My young female Feral Cat who is just over a year old, weekly develops a condition which I can only describe as a seizure. Usually this happens not long after eating and usually in the morning. Her eyes become dilated, she feels hotter, she wonders around disoriented, she constantly tries to climb the walls aimlessly, she doesn't seam to be able to focus or recognize us. This condition generally last about 4-10 hours. During her confinement she develops a terrible odour.

She has been tested for all of the common Feline diseases, Epilepsy, Diabetes and Liver Shunt conditions, which have proved negative results.

One thing we did notice after she had blood drawn for tests, was that she didn't have an attack for 3 weeks, now they are back to once a week.

One of her quirky features is that she is constantly licking, not herself, but everything else. She has licked portions of our skin until it is almost raw. She loves to do this. I don't know if this a symptom of something else, or just being sweet. Any help you can offer will be greatly appreciated.

Meg

June 1st, 2003, 09:26 PM

I have never heard of this it makes it so hard when we take them to the vet and the tests reveal nothing.

I have heard that animals that eat grass lack someting ini their diet,is this true??

Asked this because maybe the licking you reveals that the cat needs salt in her diet. i know this may seem nutty and im grasping at straws.

Also is there such a thing as having too much blood. maybe they need to take her blood once a month if tht helps.

i had a little dog that did the seizure thing, eye etc but not the licking , but hers was from bumpig her head hard while running from my other dog playing and she turnedto look atthe other dog and turned her head back rightinto something and she went into a seizure but by the time i got he r to the ve the drooling and eye thing etc and shaking was gone.

Nothing showed up in tests either. i dont know anyone who has eplisy but u said it tested negative.

Well i wish u luck that u find some answers, i will do some research for u and see what i an find out.

Meg

June 1st, 2003, 10:01 PM

I found a raelly good info site about seizures etc talking about not all seizures mean epilespy.
I am not sure if im allowed to post website can some one let me know please.
i will email it to you if your email is available as i added it to my favorites until ican do that.
it is very informative and the cats symptoms are all there.
in case i dont find your email here is mine
swmeg@yahoo.com
email me put cat/seizures in subject so i dont delete it. and i wll reply with the web address for you.

James R

June 2nd, 2003, 06:25 PM

Good day Meg. I do appreciate your thoughts and efforts. I had a look at the web page you suggested, there is a wealth of information there. If anyone else wants to view this information, I will post the site page here.

http://www-2.cs.cmu.edu/People/lowekamp/feline_epilepsy.html

This extremely informitive with good links.

I spoke with my vet on Saturday, we discussed the possibility of High Blood Pressure, we will try this medication for now and see how it goes. Many thanks from James, Gloria and Lippy.

James R

June 22nd, 2003, 11:38 AM

For the folks who may have a similar problem with their Cat. After putting our Lippy Cat on High Blood Pressure medication for two weeks, she is still having her weekly seizure.

After discussing her condition with our Vet this weekend, we feel that by her excessive licking, it could indicate as Meg suggested a lack of Salt; which wont produce seizures, or a lack of Calcium which could produce seizures. My Vet has suggested increasing her Calcium intake in the form of Cheese or Yogurt. We started this regiment yesterday. This morning she looked as though she was going to have another attack, we promptly took her back to her Food, she ate some Cheese and all is still well. We will keep her on this regiment for about another two weeks to see how she progresses. The alternative is Phenobarbital, Diazepam or Potassium Bromide, all of which I don't like because they are controlled drugs with possible side affects.